Jun 8, 2010
Yesterday we outlined what the current strongest Decks do to win their Duels, and looked at how Summoning powerful monsters while getting rid of the opponent’s monsters is very important. Today we’re going to finish up by concentrating on Spell and Trap Cards, which are just as important to any Deck as its monsters are.
To recap, here are the 4 things that every Deck should aim to do:
- Summoning powerful monsters with high ATK.
- Attacking directly by getting rid of the opponent’s monsters.
- Protecting their own monsters with Spell and Trap Cards.
- Getting rid of the opponent’s Spells and Traps, so that they can attack safely.
Keep your monsters safe to keep your opponent under pressure.
3: Protecting monsters with Spell and Trap Cards.
Your opponent will be trying just as hard as you are to win the Duel, so they’ll be trying to Summon powerful monsters to attack you with, or get rid of the monsters that you’ve already Summoned. This is why you need cards in your Deck that can keep you safe before you hit your opponent back with a counter-attack.
Cards like Bottomless Trap Hole and Dimensional Prison can remove your opponent’s monsters from play before they have a chance to attack you, and most Duelists use these in their Decks already. X-Saber decks have Saber Hole, which can negate the Summon of one of your opponent’s monsters while you control an X-Saber monster. Machine-Type Decks often use Limiter Removal, which doubles the ATK of their monsters, destroying the opponent’s stronger monsters in battle.
Protecting your monsters isn’t just about keeping them safe in battle though, your opponent will be using cards like Bottomless Trap Hole and Smashing Ground to destroy your monsters outside of battle as well. This is where cards like My Body as a Shield, Solemn Judgment andStarlight Road come in handy. When your opponent tries to destroy your monsters, you can Chain these to keep them safe. Any Deck that can Synchro Summon Level 8 monsters can useStardust Dragon to protect their monsters as well.
While it doesn’t actually negate anything, Book of Moon is a powerful protective card that can save your monsters from many Spell and Trap Cards and even block attacks! It’s a good card in almost every Deck. It’s especially useful right now because it can flip Tuner monsters face-down before your opponent can Synchro Summon with them. This gives you a big edge against almost every Deck that did well at the YCS in Chantilly.
When they’ve got nothing to stop you, make sure to go all-out!
4: Getting rid of the opponent’s defences.
Every Deck needs to be able to attack safely with the powerful monsters that they Summon, or else they’ll never bring the opponent’s Life Points to zero! Since most Duelists protect themselves with Spells and Traps, cards like Heavy Storm, Mystical Space Typhoon and Dust Tornado can be very useful. Some Decks even have their own special cards that can negate or destroy opposing Spells and Traps.
Infernity Decks have Infernity Barrier, which can negate pretty much everything. Gladiator Beasts can negate the opponent’s Spells and Traps with Gladiator Beast Heraklinos. XX-Saber Hyunlei is one of the most powerful monsters in an X-Saber Deck, destroying up to 3 Spells and Traps at once! Usually, it’s your opponent’s Trap Cards that are getting in the way, so negating them all at once with Royal Decree, Jinzo and Trap Stun could leave your opponent powerless to stop your attacks.
Lots of Decks use monster effects to protect themselves as well, even using Battle Fader andGorz the Emissary of Darkness just when you thought you’d gotten rid of everything. Cards that negate monster effects are rare, but they’re some of the most powerful cards around.Gladiator Beast War Chariot and Infernity Barrier are vital cards to their respective Decks, and cards like Light-Imprisoning Mirror and Skill Drain can eliminate several monster effects at once. Even cards like Divine Wrath and Doomcaliber Knight can come in handy.
There’s a lot more to Deck construction then these 4 basic goals though, but they’re always something that you should keep in mind when you put your next tournament-winning Deck together. If you want to learn more about building powerful Decks, make sure to click on the ‘Deck Construction’ tab below to find all sorts of tips!
